Monday, June 21, 2010

For those of you who watched Friends, you will recognize that this cake refers to Phoebe's theory that Rachel is Ross' lobster. In this case, Lynn is Kelly's lobster and vice versa, and I was trusted with creating their unconventional wedding cake featuring two lobsters. Because lobsters are actually fairly ugly creatures, I had to undertake serious artistic research by purchasing, cooking, and eating a lobster myself in order to meet my rigorous standards of authenticity and realism (and yes, the lobster omelette with shallots and basil was delicious).

Every element on the cake was a reflection of their personalities and favourite things, including the Vancouver Canucks, red wine, dark beer, Craig Ferguson, and their two Labrador retrievers. In particular, the bride has a very fair complexion and so I gave her some SPF 2500 sunscreen, along with her calla lily bouquet. They are heading off to Italy for their honeymoon! So jealous...

There were 10" and 8" round tiers, each about 4" high, with lemon, white chocolate, and vanilla flavours on the bottom and mocha, chocolate, and hazelnut flavours on top. After covering with fondant, toasted leftover cake crumbs were used to create the sandy look. Black rock sugar was broken into chunks and piled up into a cliff formation. The lobster torso and front claws were Rice Krispie treats internally and covered with fondant before airbrushing to a perfect orange-red hue.

This was a cake where truly, the sum was greater than its parts, although making the parts were very satisfying, especially the wine and beer bottles and Craig Ferguson book. Assembling all the parts together was the most challenging; in particular, the lobster claws were heavier than anticipated and were stubbornly refusing to defy gravity. Also, the two ringbearing dogs were originally supposed to be frolicking on the rocks, but in order to save space and maintain proper relative scale in terms of size of the objects, they both became swimming dogs!

Thankfully, I did not have to deliver this cake to Furry Creek, which is a beautiful place about an hour outside Vancouver on the way to Whistler. Reportedly, the cake made it there safely and was "a big hit". And so I can let out a big sigh of relief! Congratulations Lynn & Kelly!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

I have been thinking of buying a new car lately. Although I am fiercely loyal to my 1995 Honda Civic, the muffler is dying again and little rust spots are beginning to show up. My love of this car, however, is not proportional to my love of driving. In fact, I hate driving, especially in Vancouver, and as a result, my odometer has barely cracked 90,000 kms after 15 years, despite following me to Edmonton and Michigan and back. Maybe I don't even need a car?

I'll leave it to others to appreciate fancy cars and such, especially Ferrari Formula 1 racing cars which I knew nothing about until several weeks ago. This cake was for a big fan of F1 racing and Michael Schumacher, created from chocolate cake, raspberry and vanilla mousseline. The car was built and carved from an 8" x 8" x 2.5" cake but since 30 servings were needed, I added a short 10" x 15" slab for the car to sit on.

I used this photo as the model for this cake and was soon overwhelmed by the number of corporate logos which emblazen the car. It was impossible to replicate the exact number due to scale but at last count, there were 40 hand-piped signs, not to mention the four chunky tires which were Rice Krispie treats inside.

My favourites had to be the miniature Ferrari emblems with the tiny black stallion which forced me to acknowledge that presbyopia is fast approaching. The little Shell signs were also very cute. The driver is the White Stig, a character from a British TV show called Top Gear which I know absolutely nothing about. All I know is that, I can list all of Michael Schumacher's corporate sponsors by heart and that there is a general surgeon in Vancouver lovingly nicknamed Cocoa Stig.